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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We will be turning to song number 355. Just a few pages over. What a friend we have in Jesus. Song number 355. . . . . . On the first. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry. Everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry. Everything to God in prayer. On the second. Have we trials and temptations. Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. On the last. Are we weak and heavy laden? Cumbered with a load of care. Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despite forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there. All right, if everyone would, please turn to 2 Kings chapter number 21. All right, 2 Kings chapter number 21. We just finished up doing a three-week study on King Hezekiah, who, as we mentioned several times, was a great king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Now, tonight we're going to talk about somebody who starts his reign off the complete opposite. And the title of the sermon this evening is None Beyond Hope, and that is put forth as a question. So really the full title would be, Does Manasseh Prove That No One Is Without Hope? Okay, so in other words, does Manasseh's life prove that he was the worst of sinners, and then that proves that the worst of sinners in the world today can be saved? So obviously we're going to dismantle that, we're going to take that apart, and see whether or not the statement is true, because a lot of people today and throughout history have used this story, used this king as an example of that, to say things like, even Jeffrey Dahmer could get saved, even pedophiles can be saved. And of course, with June coming up, which is going to be Remember the Flood month here, we are going to dive into this and see whether or not that statement is true. But before we do, let's get started here. You're in 2 Kings chapter 21, look down at verse number 1. So the Bible says, Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Hephzibah. Interesting fact here, that Manasseh reigned for fifty-five years, so the longest reigning king that Israel had, basically had. So how is that? Why is that? Why did he get the longest reign? And of course, as we go through this, we're going to answer that. Now let's see how he started off. Remember his father was given fifteen more years to live after he petitioned the Lord, after he pleaded for life, he loved the Lord, got rid of the high places, did a lot of things that were great for the kingdom of God, turned people's hearts back to following the Lord. Let's see what the Bible says about Manasseh, look at verse 2. It says, And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. So remember we talked about Hezekiah and how his father had done very wickedly, did very foolishly, but somehow Hezekiah wound up coming out on top, and he actually followed the Lord. But yet one generation between Hezekiah's father and Manasseh, and here we see him start off on the wrong foot, definitely with evil here. Look at verse 3. It says, For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and had reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. So interesting here, right off the bat, it says that Manasseh did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, mentions that he followed the abominations of the heathens. And then in order here, it says he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. So that's how this starts, okay? He builds up the high places, and we've talked about this. These high places here, to most people, didn't seem like a thing. They figured, well, we're still worshipping God in these high places. Solomon did it. These guys did it. Okay, and that's how it always starts, a new innovative way to worship God. But what always follows, well, it always leads you into some sort of idolatry. What happens next after the high places? It says, and he reared up altars for Baal. So just, again, that's the process, okay? People decide that they're going to worship God the way that they want to, contrary to what the Bible says. And then the next thing you know, they're worshipping Baal. They're bringing devil worship back in, undoing all the work that Jehu did up in the northern kingdom. And they figure, well, we'll just bring Baal in. And it says that he made a grove. Okay, and we've talked about the grove several times. These kings had a thing for that. And you always see these groves pop up here. What they would do is they would plant trees in an arrangement to basically worship these false gods. That's how the heathen had started doing it. And God said to the nation of Israel when they were to go into the Promised Land that they were not supposed to copy those or to keep those things. They were supposed to completely get rid of them. And here we see he brings back the groves, just like Ahab did. But then it says that he worshipped all the host of heaven. Alright, so he gets into this astrology and worshipping the stars and the patterns and things like that. But he also served them. Okay, look at verse number four. So you have some kings that have made the trespass of going into the temple and treating it like an ATM. This king here goes beyond that and goes in there and sets up altars to false gods. Blasphemes the temple, blasphemes God's name to the entire world, essentially. Look at verse five. This guy is extremely busy doing all the wrong things. Verse six. His son passed through the fire and observed times and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Now one of the things that you're going to see later on when we go to 2 Chronicles 33 is that the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 33 that Manasseh actually caused his children to pass through the fire. So Kings lets us know that he did this to one of his sons, but you combine the two stories and he made obviously a few of his children at least to pass through the fire. Now so far we're six verses deep here. Now you and I typically when we see somebody out in society who is following this path our natural reaction is, guy is definitely a goner. Definitely a reprobate, definitely not able to get saved. Look at verse number seven. So Manasseh is so puffed up here with pride and arrogance that he makes an idle image out of the grove that he made and sets that in the temple in addition to the altars to Baal and the altars to the host of heaven. So again, this is just compounding severely here to this king. Verse number eight. And according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. So again, that flies in the face of this doctrine today which basically says well the Jew has a right to that land. No, it was always conditioned based off of whether or not they were going to be obedient to the Lord God. Now look at verse number nine. Then did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. So again, this guy is so evil that just him doing this wickedness is not enough. He actually seduces the people in the kingdom of God to follow him in his pursuit of these false gods. Verse 10. Which were before him and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Verse 12. Now that's interesting because they were supposed to be hearing the word of God. They were supposed to be hearing what the prophets and what the priests were teaching. But unfortunately at this time frame that teaching had ceased. Everything that Hezekiah worked very hard for Manasseh completely erased. And God says hey, don't even worry about it. No problem. I'm going to cause you to hear something and this something you will hear. This something will make your ears tingle. So in other words, Manasseh's sins are so great that at this point no matter which course of action he takes. Whether he just gets vaporized or whether he gets saved. God is saying that the nation is going to pay the price for what he's done. You see that sounds pretty harsh. Make the whole nation pay the price for what the king did. Well here's the thing. No one is trying to stop him. No one is really running around saying hey, this ain't right. This is wicked. And we should obviously put these things away. So the majority of the people followed the seduction of the king. And therefore God is saying guess what? You're going to pay the price for this. And by the way, this is also leading to a foreshadowing of their future captivity into the land of Babylon. Let's see here. Verse 13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab. And I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. So there you have it. Just as the northern kingdom of Israel was taken captive, taken out of the land. God is saying I'm going to use that same line of Samaria. In other words, that same judgment, that same measurement. I'm going to use that same process on the southern kingdom of Judah. However, theirs does come with a special caveat that they will be able to come back into the land. And we'll get there in a couple chapters. Verse 14. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies. Verse 15. And here's why. Because they have done that which was evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. What a sad story, right? You see the nation of Israel start off with 12 tribes. And it's just this up and down, up and down, up and down cycle of obedience, disobedience, obedience, disobedience. And then what happens? They get basically reduced down to two tribes, maybe three if you count the Levites. You've got Judah, some Benjamites and Levites. Some Levites mixed in to what is now the southern kingdom of Judah, which in itself is reduced down to Jerusalem and some of the outlying cities that Hezekiah was able to win back. So these guys are doing very bad and Manasseh is really just sealing the deal. So, let's see here. Again, verse 15. Because they have done that which is evil in my sight, they have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. Verse 16. Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, beside his sin, wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And then verse 17 says, now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. And so if you were to just stop reading right here, you would go on to read about Ammon. We're not going to spend a lot of time on Ammon. He reigns for two years. He doesn't turn to the Lord and his reigns over. And then you get into Josiah. But if you were to just stop right here, you'd think, well that's it, just another evil king. But something absolutely insane happens to this king. So let's take a look at it. Go to 2 Chronicles chapter number 33. 2 Chronicles chapter number 33. And really what you're about to see here is that King Manasseh goes from being reckless to basically doing a sanctified checklist. We can say that. He goes from being extremely reckless to doing a sanctified checklist. And let's see what that looks like here. So 2 Chronicles 33 parallel passage here. Let's start up in verse number 6. Look at this. It's just going to re-emphasize some of the things that we already read. Just look at the beginning of the verse here. It says, And he caused his children, not just the son, but his children to pass through the fire and the valley of the son of Hinnom. Also he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft and dealt with a familiar spirit. And with wizards he wrought, that word wrought there means worked. So this guy is literally, he worked, he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Okay, so this is backing up what you read in 2 Kings chapter number 21. Okay, verse 7, he set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God. Look at verse 8, it says, I'm sorry, jump down to verse number 9 just for the sake of time. This is basically just going over everything we read. But again, let's get to the part here where Manasseh has a change of mind. Look at verse number 9. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to error and to do worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. Look, this guy is pretty bad. This guy is definitely one bad dude. And not in a good way. I mean, this guy is just extremely wicked. Okay, look at verse 10. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. So at this point, not only will Manasseh not hearken, but the people won't hearken. Now look at verse number 11. Wherefore, so this is what's not recorded in 2 Kings chapter number 21. You say why? Because God wants us to rightly divide the word of truth. He wants us to read the entire word of God, study the entire word of God, and put things together for doctrine. Verse 11. Wherefore, so for that reason, he's coming to a conclusion here. Wherefore, the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon. So there's more foreshadowing here. Manasseh here in this verse is literally picturing the future of the southern kingdom of Judah going into captivity. And what they're supposed to do is learn from this story and what Manasseh is about to do so that they can go back to the land, but you see what's going on here. God says, okay, you don't want to listen to me? Well, I'm going to give you another chance. I'm going to deliver you. I'm going to use the Assyrians to teach you a lesson. They take him to Babylon, verse 12, and when he was in affliction, look at this. See, I would have wrote this guy off. I'm not even lying. Definitely would have wrote this dude off. Okay, like he's done for, but look at this here in verse 12. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord, and this is very important here. Look at these next two words. His God. You see that? And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God. So who is, at the time of this writing, you know, obviously this is the narrator speaking here. Okay, at the time of this writing, who was Manasseh's God? Who is Manasseh's God? The Lord God of heaven. Okay, verse 12. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Okay, and so this is where you're gonna see here, I believe definitely got saved. It says that the Lord God is now his God, and what follows is no more recklessness. Okay, he literally goes from reckless to performing a checklist. Check this out. Look at verse 13. And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him. So God heard this prayer. What does that prove? That proves that he wasn't on the reprobate road. He's not a reprobate, okay? He's not, he did not go that far. Verse 13. And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and here it is, and brought him again to Jerusalem, into his kingdom. Then Manasseh, here it is, knew that the Lord he was God. Now, I don't know about you, but that's probably one of the most amazing transformations in the entire Bible. In the entire word of God. I mean, it kind of reminds me a little bit of Paul. We're gonna talk about that here in a little while. But definitely an amazing thing here. And we're gonna recap some of this stuff here in a moment, just for some doctrinal purposes. But what you see here, Manasseh humbles himself, okay? And then it says that he knew that the Lord was God. Look at verse 14. Now, after this, so this really starts, okay, this really starts this checklist process. And again, okay, don't forget here, that this is what God wants the future children of Israel, in the southern kingdom of Judah, he wants them to learn from this, okay? Manasseh is a perfect picture, a perfect roadmap of what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to go into captivity, and humble themselves, and beseech the Lord, so that the Lord would entreat them, and bring them back into the land. And eventually that does happen. Now, verse 14. Now, after this, he built a wall without the city of David. So, outside the city of David, outside of Jerusalem. Now, after this, he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering inn at the fish gate, encompassed about Ophul, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. You know what this is a picture of here? This is a picture of somebody saying, you know what, now that I'm saved, I want to live a sanctified life. I want to put up a wall. Okay, that wall is a picture of what somebody is supposed to do, what someone should do, after salvation. Okay, after salvation, what we want people to do, is to start following the word of God. Become disciples. Put up a wall to protect yourself from the attacks of the world. Because as soon as a person gets saved, the devil is coming for you. And so the best thing that a person could do, is throw up a wall, and not only that. Right, but look at what Manasseh does here. It says, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. Where would you find the captains of the fenced cities of Judah today? Well, you're going to find them in the local New Testament church that preaches the right gospel, uses the right Bible, and is not afraid of the attacks of the world, and will tell you like it is. Okay, that is where you're going to find this type of protection. And so he's making sure, you know what, I don't want to go back to Babylon. I learned my lesson. He's like, I learned from this chastening here. And so I'm going to strengthen myself and do right. Look at verse 15. And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. So you see, now he's going through this checklist. Like, I'm undoing everything that I did that was evil. Look at verse 16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sanctified thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. So there you have it. He literally went from being reckless to getting saved, and then to following a sanctified checklist. A process to strengthen himself, strengthen his brethren from the attacks in the world, making sure that he no longer has an avenue to go back the other way. To go back the way that he once was. And that is not to say you can lose your salvation. You know the answer to that. Impossible. Verse 17. Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. And that's why I said at the beginning of the sermon. That's how it always starts. Well, it's just a grove. It's just trees. And I often wonder, because if you look up the word groves, the first time you're going to see somebody doing anything with a grove is actually Abraham. The Bible says that Abraham planted a grove and did that in honor, and it doesn't say anything negative about that. However, the heathen have a different way of doing groves, and God said, I don't want you guys following that. But I just wonder if they were like, well, you know, Abraham did have groves, and we're just going to kind of do like he did. Okay? Completely ignoring the fact God said, I don't care. No groves. The answer is no. You want to be righteous? You want to be sanctified? You want to follow the Lord? Then no groves. God doesn't want them. Okay? But here you have it. They're like, well, we're going to do all this other stuff, Manasseh. Okay? But you've got to leave us one thing. Okay? But it does say, yet they still sacrificed unto the Lord their God only. I mean, after studying all the wickedness they've done, I mean, your natural instinct is to be like, well, just leave them alone. At least they're getting back on track. Verse 18. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer unto his God. See, there it is again, unto his God. And the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. Okay? Now there's reference made in the book of the kings, but not word for word. Remember, this king lived for 55, or I didn't live for 55 years. I'm sorry. He reigned for 55 years, was 12 years old when he began to reign. If we had everything about this king, I mean, how big is the Bible going to be? Just absolutely huge. Okay? So it's just saying that these kings kept additional chronicles and additional writings outside of the Bible that we don't have, but we have plenty here to go off of and to learn from. Verse 19, it's prayer also and how God was entreated of him and all his sin and his trespass and the high places wherein he built high places and set up groves and graven images before he was humbled. Behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers. And of course you can scour the prophets and see elements of these things in there. Verse 20. So Manasseh slept with his fathers and they buried him in his own house. And Ammon, his son, reigned and is dead. So this guy lives for about 67-ish years, lives a full life. So again, that answers the question, why did he have the longest reign? Well, I mean, he had a lot to be forgiven of. If you want to talk about that doctrine, King Manasseh, I mean, he had a long list to be forgiven of and God said, it's all remitted. As soon as he bowed, humbled himself, God said, okay, you know, I'm still going to bring judgment on this land, but it will not be in your reign. And so God gave him much time to get these things right and to put these things into order. So now, let's talk about some stuff here. I'm going to have you guys go to 1 Timothy. Keep your place, you know, somewhere in the Kings, but go to 1 Timothy chapter number 1. 1 Timothy chapter number 1. And let's answer the question that the sermon title begs. Does Manasseh prove that none are beyond hope? You know, all you got to do is do a quick internet search and you'll see that come up. Manasseh proves that no one is without hope. Okay, Manasseh was the worst of sinners. That's what so many people say, that he was the worst of sinners. Now, he's pretty bad, pretty wicked, did some horrible things. But is he the worst of sinners? The answer is no. For example, let's just do a quick recap. Okay, I got 10 things real quickly to bring up. Okay, he built high places that his father tore down. Okay, the world does that. Definitely not super uncommon. Built altars for Baal, other kings had done that. Number 3, made a grove, worshiped the host of heaven. People do that all the time. Number 4, built altars in the temple. Okay, for the host of heaven. And he did, he basically inputted this stuff in both courts in the temple. Number 5, he made children to pass through the fire. Okay, well, how would we look at that today? Well, we would say that's abortion. Okay, now can somebody who gets an abortion still get saved? Absolutely, okay. Number 6, observed times, used enchantments, dealt with familiar spirits. Look, people dabble in these things all the time. And then someone preaches them the gospel, they humble themselves, and they wind up getting saved. See, he worked so much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, that God said, look, I'm breaking this judgment on this nation, regardless of what happens. Number 8, set a graven image of the grove that he made in the temple, in the house of God. Let's see, number 9, ignored the prophets. People do that all the time. Okay, people do that all the time. And then number 10, the Bible says that he was worse than the Ammonites. And not only that, but he seduced the people in the kingdom to do wickedness, and to follow him into his wickedness. And that pretty much summarizes what he did. Throw in the Baal worship, all that stuff here. Now, that's pretty bad. And people say, well, he was the worst of sinners, so that proves that anyone can be saved, no matter what, regardless. You know what you don't see on here? You don't see him being a flaming sodomite. You know what you don't see on here? You don't see him being a pedophile. Okay? There's someone else in the New Testament that we could look to that was pretty bad, that endorsed Christians being put to death, that wreaked havoc on the church, and his name is Paul, the apostle Paul. Here's what Paul says about himself, why he was able to be saved. First Timothy chapter number 1, look at verse number 12. So Paul says this, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Now, look what follows the statement here. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious. Okay, that word injurious there, meaning he injured people. He had people put to death. When the deacon Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that Paul was there giving consent to that. Okay? So definitely, again, Paul, definitely a bad, a bad guy, before he gets saved. But look what he says at the end of verse 13. He says, But I obtained mercy. Okay, is that not what Manasseh obtained? He obtained mercy, same thing. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Okay, that is key to understanding this doctrine and understanding how to refute somebody who comes at you and says, well, Manasseh and Paul are proof that the worst of sinners can be saved. Okay? Let's take a look at this further. Go to Romans chapter number one. Because what I think you're going to see here in Romans chapter one is that there is a group of people alive, and unfortunately, well, that are worse sinners than Manasseh and worse sinners than Paul. And let's take a look at those people and what sets them apart from Paul and a guy like Manasseh. Look at verse number 18 of chapter number one. The Bible says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, and here it is, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Okay? If you keep your finger there and flip back to 1 Timothy, if you kept your place there, if not, just listen. What did Paul say? I did it ignorantly in what? Unbelief. Okay? When you study the life of Manasseh, you can tell. I mean, when did he start reigning? 12 years old. How smart do you think he was at 12 years old? Very influential. You want to tell me that there weren't people around him goading him to do some of this stuff? You know, I think you know the answer to that. He definitely was probably surrounded by people that were not giving him the most sound and wise advice. But look at these people here. There are people out there that hold the truth. That take the truth, that know the truth, but they hold it in unrighteousness, meaning they hate it. They acknowledge it, but they hate it. If you would like an example, all you have to do is go outside here on the sidewalk and read the things that are written down about our church and about us. Hey, they write down, they understand the truth of the Bible, but they hate it. They absolutely hate it. Whereas Paul says, hey, I just did all these things because I didn't believe and I was ignorant. Same thing could be said about King Manasseh. Hey, these people here in Romans chapter one that we call reprobates are on a different level, a whole different level. Look at verse 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them. Also keep in mind that we live in a completely different world than King Manasseh did because our world has the Holy Ghost in and the Bible says that the Holy Ghost is here to reprove the world of sin. Okay, whereas in the Old Testament times the Holy Ghost wasn't operating as he is now. So you also have that element to speak and to deal with. Verse 20, for the invisible things of him from creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. And we talk about what this means all of the time. The simple fact is the Bible says that man has God's law written on his heart. The Holy Ghost is in the world reproving the world of sin. Creation proves everything. It proves his eternal power, his Godhead, everything. Okay, so people see that and they know the truth. And some people say, you know what, I don't like it because it goes against what I want to do. Look at verse 21. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Look at the beginning of that verse. Because that when they knew God, so when they came to the understanding that God is who he says he is, that God is the creator and founder of earth, that God has statutes, judgments, and truth, what does it say? They glorified him not as God. Now when Manasseh got brought to his knees and he got brought into Babylon and he got put on blast, okay, what happened? Well, he did the opposite of this. When he knew God, he did glorify him as God. He did say, okay, I made a huge mistake here and now you are my God and I'm going back on all that stuff. What happened on the road to Damascus? Paul gets a revelation of Jesus Christ. He sees the Lord. Okay, what does he do then? He glorifies him as God. Okay, you see the difference here? Whereas these people here, they don't do that. They go on a whole different direction. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain. In their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Okay, so these people are on a whole nother level, like I said, than Manasseh, than Paul. Look at this in verse 22, professing themselves to become wise, they became fools and this just gets worse. They change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man and to birds, four-footed beasts and creeping things. And so you see this progression here, okay? They get a hold of the truth and they don't like it. They actually hold that truth. Okay, they hold it, but they hold it in unrighteousness. They mock it, they trash it, they don't like it. Verse 24, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Okay, so that's what I'm talking about. You have now left Manasseh. You have now left what Paul had done and you have entered into a realm of debauchery and just extreme wickedness that normal people cannot honestly understand. Verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie. So again, it always goes back to them knowing the truth, understanding what that is, but holding it in unrighteousness, mocking it, hating it. Okay, and it says, verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen. Verse 26, for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women to change the natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another. Men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves recompense of their air which was meat, meaning receiving in themselves disease and just destruction and physical death. Verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, okay, that is not Paul. That was not Manasseh. When they got ahold of the truth, they glorified God. Okay, these people are worse than Manasseh, worse than Ahab, worse than Paul on every level at this point. Verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. So God gives these people to a reprobate rejected mindset. You don't see that with Manasseh. You don't see that with Paul. Paul said I obtained mercy because I did these things in ignorance. I did them ignorantly in unbelief. So when people come at you and say that Manasseh was the worst of sinners, the answer that you need to give them is no, he wasn't. No, he wasn't. In fact, there's a group of people far worse than them and you can read about them in Romans chapter one. And you know what's funny? Is that somebody sent me this video of even John MacArthur and I don't endorse him at all. I'm not endorsing him, but I'm just saying it was like a 60 second clip of him talking about the reprobate doctrine and how people, it almost sounded like one of our own kind. I was like, well, that's kind of weird, you know. So even they're starting to get it, you know, it's bad when people that call themselves Christians are still just, oh, that's not true. Anybody could be saved and Manasseh and Paul proved that. Go back to 2 Kings chapter 21. So just wanted to answer this question. Are none beyond hope? The answer is no, there are people beyond hope. And there are people that far exceed Manasseh, far exceed Paul. There are people that get a hold of the truth and decide not to glorify God, but to hold that truth and mock and pursue unrighteousness and just all sorts of things. And of course, I know you guys are mostly familiar with Romans chapter one. So I don't want to bore you too much with that. Let's move on here. So look again at verse number 17 of 2 Kings chapter 21. It says, now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he sent, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And of course, yes, we just took a look at that. Verse 18, Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house in the garden of Uzzah and Ammon his son reigned in his stead. And we'll just go ahead and close out the chapter here. Verse 19, Ammon was 22 years old when he began to reign and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshulameth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotba. Verse 20, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as his father Manasseh did. So unfortunately, he never got the memo. Unfortunately, he did not take the humbleness that his father experienced and applied it to his life. Verse 21, and he walked in all the way that his father walked in. And look at this, it served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. Verse 22, and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers and walked not in the way of the Lord. So different language there regarding Ammon versus Manasseh. He completely forsook the Lord, it says. Verse 23, and the servants of Ammon conspired against him and slew the king in his own house. So again, this guy's wickedness exceeded that of his father and therefore he had no hedge of protection. He didn't have that and people conspired against him, killed him in his own house. Verse 24, and the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Ammon and the people of the land made Josiah his son, king in his stead. Now the rest of the acts of Ammon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? He was buried in a sepulcher in the garden of Uzzah and Josiah his son reigned in his stead. Now Josiah is obviously, if you're not familiar, you're going to want to come next week if you can or listen because he does some great things for God that even exceed that which Hezekiah his grandfather did. And you're going to want to get to these chapters and really dig in deep with us and come across or come out with some great doctrine and some great understanding of what he does. He's really going to be the last king. Unfortunately, that does that kind of greatness for the nation. And of course, we will take a look at that next Sunday evening. And with that being said, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you, Lord, so much for the abundant mercy that you show and for obviously preserving the story that we may learn there from and be able to take these things and apply them to our lives. And we ask you to bless the fellowship after the service and thank you for all that you do for us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. . All right, everyone. For our final song this evening, we will be turning to song number 315. Take my life and let it be. Song number 315 on the first. Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee Take my hands and let them move At the impulse of Thy love At the impulse of Thy love Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee Take my voice and let me sing Always only for my King Always only for my King Take my silver and my gold Not a mite would I withhold Take my moments and my days Let them flow in ceaseless praise Let them flow in ceaseless praise Take my will and make it thine It shall be no longer mine Take my heart, it is thine own It shall be Thy royal throne It shall be Thy royal throne All right, let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time we had to hear your word be preached. I ask that you please bring everyone home safely tonight after the fellowship and food and that we'd all be back on Wednesday. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Thank you.